update

Windows Phone 8 is just in the process of being released and with it comes updated apps. Notably Nokia’s own apps are getting spruced up to take advantage of the new platform.

Yesterday saw an update go out to Nokia Music, its actually still showing as 3.5.93.366 but announced some new features with regard to the newest version of the Windows Phone OS.

One of the big new features for Windows Phone 8 is the ability to finally do over-the-air (OTA) updates to the OS—either for big things or little fixes. Previously, we could check for updates but if one were found, you had to head home to your PC and plug in the phone to install (including performing a full backup). Now, things are more streamlined.

In an article over at Mobility Minded, details of the update process were posted, giving a look at what users can expect with these updates.  The updates are listed as manual or automatic, with the latter being downloaded behind the scenes and the former involving tapping in Settings to see if there is an update.

Microsoft has unveiled Windows Phone 8 today at its San Francisco event, but the company hasn't stopped at simply announcing the next version of its mobile platform as the official Windows Phone website has had a design refresh. 

You can count on Nokia to keep on fine tuning their own apps, each version brings us a step closer to perfection. Today an update is heading out for Nokia Music, their free to listen music service.

The release notes for version 3.5 are scant but we suspect this is version isn’t serving up any new features as the release app notes still show the same features as in version 3.0 which we reported on back in July.

Smartboard Calculator isn't your run of the mill Windows Phone calculator app. Inspired by the old school blackboard where you calculator acts like a blackboard where you can scroll around by touch to review all your calculations.

Smartboard Calculator was recently updated to address a few usability and performance issues and tweak the free version. The free version is now a fully-functional, ad-supported version.

A reimagined Skype client is on the way

Update: As we suspected this video was is no way sanctioned to be released publicly and as such, a copyright claim by AOL/Engadget has had it removed. Translation: this was suppose to be under wraps but was made public on accident.

Update 2: We found a second source of the video, catch it while you can

Skype for Windows Phone 8 has been demoed by Derrick Snyder, now head of mobile marketing at Skype. In the video, Snyder runs viewers through what we can all expect from the new client. Now, before we crack into what's shown in the video, it's worth noting that this is a brand new application for Windows Phone, though many of the new features have been covered before.

We looked at NewsSpot back in September and have since been contacted by the developer to advise that version 2.7 is now available.

The Google Reader client was well received by us and we were looking forward to seeing the updates trickle through so we’re glad things are now on track. To get the update you will need to hit a new link in the marketplace which you can find below.

This morning we woke up to a few app-updates on our Windows Phone but before we were able to process them, we were prompted with a new pop up from Microsoft.

Filed under ‘Setup Account’ the new agreement centers on ‘Personalize my Music’ and simply says "Send us your music playing and rating data to tailor the Zune experience to your interests". Of course there is no mention of Xbox Music, the new service that is replacing Zune Music, but it is clear that Microsoft is starting to roll out some features for consumers.

Now what makes this interesting is as far as we know, Zune always had this feature of rating music and songs you liked, then giving you recommendations under the Zune Desktop client. But from what we remember that would only happen when you manually synced with your desktop—but now it seems as if your recommendations will go over-the-air.

What we still don’t see though is a ‘Recommendations’ section on the phone in the Windows Phone Music Store, which is an odd omission (unless we’re missing it). Currently you have to use the Desktop sync client to get personalized choices, something that we hope comes to our phones directly in the future (we don’t really sync that often with our computer these days).

Although the Lync 2010 app was MIA yesterday in the Store it evidently was due to the fact that it was getting an update.

Indeed heading to the Store you can now find version 4.3 ready for download. Unfortunately, there is no change log to go with it and since we don’t use Lync ourselves, we can’t do our normal compare and contrast. The app was last updated in March with version 4.1.

But if you’re a Lync fan, you’ll want to go ahead and grab the update here. Notice some changes? Let us know in comments.